Congo: Power in the hands of a wealthy few

KINSHASA – Walking up the tattered red-carpeted stairs of Congo’s parliamentary building in the heart of the capital Kinshasa, a smell of sewage suddenly fills the air from leaking pipes on the floor above.

In the crumbling and fading halls of the People’s Palace, huddled parliamentary committees meet while civil servants drift through the musty corridors, half-asleep. After five years of war which claimed some three million lives, the Democratic Republic of Congo is meant to be on the path to democracy thanks to a peace deal that installed a power-sharing government last July.Elections are due in the next two years.But parliament could hardly claim to be flourishing and much of the real power in the mineral-rich former Zaire remains with President Joseph Kabila and leaders of ex-rebel groups.Members of parliament say they are struggling to gain any insight into how the government operates while the assembly’s own civil servants complain they are not being paid on time.”Our payments are not coming in regularly, there is still a sentiment of rebellion here.We have the keys, so we can shut down this building,” threatened one functionary in his cramped office, surrounded by stacks of dusty files.WEAK PARLIAMENT SUITS ‘BIG MEN’ For many analysts, the weakness of parliament is no accident as top politicians seek to establish their own positions as dominant “Big Men” ahead of elections.Under the temporary power-sharing plan, Kabila presides over four vice presidents, two from civil society and two from the two largest ex-rebel groups.With Kabila in the presidency surrounded by ex-ministers from his previous government, his financial connections to state-owned enterprises remains strong.A new bilateral deal between Congo and South Africa will also funnel money his way.Jean Pierre Bemba, leader of the MLC – the rebel group formerly backed by Uganda – is the vice president with a mandate for economic and financial affairs and several of his party members are in key financial ministerial positions.”Both these guys need to discredit parliament, which should have control capacities over the executive.The two of them need to break free of parliament to get ahead in the election race,” said one Congolese economic analyst.”There is no state provision for political parties for elections, and elections cost money.”Last month, Kabila reprimanded the parliament in a letter to its president Olivier Kamitatu, a darling of the international community and an MLC political rival of Bemba.He accused the parliament of being slow and bogged down in partisan disputes.Both the finance and budget ministers, who belong to Kabila’s and Bemba’s circle respectively, have been slow to disburse money to empower parliament.”It has been a difficult exercise getting information on ministerial management.Transparency and good governance are the obligations of all our institutions,” Kamitatu told Reuters at his plush residence in Kinshasa.Kamitatu wrote a polite reply to Kabila’s reprimand, saying that ministers needed to assume responsibility too.TENSIONS REMAIN Although a weak parliament suits both Kabila and Bemba, analysts doubt they are co-operating closely.Tensions remain high between former rebels, the president’s circle and the civilian opposition.A recent Supreme Court ruling giving Kabila sweeping powers to appoint provincial governors – an important asset when the time comes for election campaigns – prompted his political opponents to accuse him of dictatorship.Kabila’s circle, the MLC and the opposition have also been at loggerheads over the appointment of certain ministers, leading to cabinet reshuffles and threats to boycott ministerial meetings.”If they see a threat to their interest, they go and block that threat without thinking of the consequences, which eventually blocks overall progress,” said one Western diplomat.For Francois Grignon, Central Africa project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, Congo should be able to survive with its peace deal – but not very efficiently.”The political system will be based on the presidency, with no real devolution of power.Exploitation of resources will continue supporting the ruling clique, and vast parts of the country will remain in semi-rebellion,” he said.While the giant bureaucracy of the transitional government trudges on, it will provide some sense of stability as donor money trickles in and rewards a political fudge that means little to many of Congo’s 55 million people.”The only thing this government has stabilised is my misery,” said one young man bitterly, pushing through a crowd in a poor district of Kinshasa in tattered clothes and bare feet.- Nampa-ReutersAfter five years of war which claimed some three million lives, the Democratic Republic of Congo is meant to be on the path to democracy thanks to a peace deal that installed a power-sharing government last July.Elections are due in the next two years.But parliament could hardly claim to be flourishing and much of the real power in the mineral-rich former Zaire remains with President Joseph Kabila and leaders of ex-rebel groups.Members of parliament say they are struggling to gain any insight into how the government operates while the assembly’s own civil servants complain they are not being paid on time.”Our payments are not coming in regularly, there is still a sentiment of rebellion here.We have the keys, so we can shut down this building,” threatened one functionary in his cramped office, surrounded by stacks of dusty files.WEAK PARLIAMENT SUITS ‘BIG MEN’ For many analysts, the weakness of parliament is no accident as top politicians seek to establish their own positions as dominant “Big Men” ahead of elections.Under the temporary power-sharing plan, Kabila presides over four vice presidents, two from civil society and two from the two largest ex-rebel groups.With Kabila in the presidency surrounded by ex-ministers from his previous government, his financial connections to state-owned enterprises remains strong.A new bilateral deal between Congo and South Africa will also funnel money his way.Jean Pierre Bemba, leader of the MLC – the rebel group formerly backed by Uganda – is the vice president with a mandate for economic and financial affairs and several of his party members are in key financial ministerial positions.”Both these guys need to discredit parliament, which should have control capacities over the executive.The two of them need to break free of parliament to get ahead in the election race,” said one Congolese economic analyst.”There is no state provision for political parties for elections, and elections cost money.”Last month, Kabila reprimanded the parliament in a letter to its president Olivier Kamitatu, a darling of the international community and an MLC political rival of Bemba.He accused the parliament of being slow and bogged down in partisan disputes.Both the finance and budget ministers, who belong to Kabila’s and Bemba’s circle respectively, have been slow to disburse money to empower parliament.”It has been a difficult exercise getting information on ministerial management.Transparency and good governance are the obligations of all our institutions,” Kamitatu told Reuters at his plush residence in Kinshasa.Kamitatu wrote a polite reply to Kabila’s reprimand, saying that ministers needed to assume responsibility too.TENSIONS REMAIN Although a weak parliament suits both Kabila and Bemba, analysts doubt they are co-operating closely.Tensions remain high between former rebels, the president’s circle and the civilian opposition.A recent Supreme Court ruling giving Kabila sweeping powers to appoint provincial governors – an important asset when the time comes for election campaigns – prompted his political opponents to accuse him of dictatorship.Kabila’s circle, the MLC and the opposition have also been at loggerheads over the appointment of certain ministers, leading to cabinet reshuffles and threats to boycott ministerial meetings.”If they see a threat to their interest, they go and block that threat without thinking of the consequences, which eventually blocks overall progress,” said one Western diplomat.For Francois Grignon, Central Africa project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, Congo should be able to survive with its peace deal – but not very efficiently.”The political system will be based on the presidency, with no real devolution of power.Exploitation of resources will continue supporting the ruling clique, and vast parts of the country will remain in semi-rebellion,” he said.While the giant bureaucracy of the transitional government trudges on, it will provide some sense of stability as donor money trickles in and rewards a political fudge that means little to many of Congo’s 55 million people.”The only thing this government has stabilised is my misery,” said one young man bitterly, pushing through a crowd in a poor district of Kinshasa in tattered clothes and bare feet.- Nampa-Reuters